Jim Harbaugh 49ers

Jim Harbaugh 49ers, (AP) – Jim Harbaugh Miami Dolphins forced to call an audible. Harbaugh and the Dolphins broke off talks Thursday, and the team had to keep Tony Sparano as coach, two people familiar with the negotiations said. Both people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were kept confidential.

Dolphin’s owner Stephen Ross Harbaugh courted at a meeting in the San Francisco area, two people with knowledge of the situation said. But after the meeting, Harbaugh still considering staying at Stanford, one person said.

Harbaugh also met Thursday with the university president and provost. The school has made a revised offer of the car with improvements to the offer made in early December.

A late season collapse by the Dolphins’ Sparano is putting jobs at risk. He has one year to his contract and was at work at the team complex in Davie, while Ross has been on the other side of the country courting Harbaugh.

Sparano tried to make the most of the strange situation. While still uncertain of his fate, he took an afternoon walk outside the office team on Thursday and met a group of media staking out the facility.

“You guys need to find a better hobby,” said Sparano.

The strange sequence of events threatens to undermine the authority of a coach whose status was already fragile due to a late-season collapse. The Dolphins lost their last three games, including a 38-7 drubbing at New England in their final last Sunday and finished a disappointing 7-9.

Andrew Stanford quart luck may have helped the Cardinal’s chances of maintaining Harbaugh deciding to stay to graduate instead of cashing the chance to be the No. 1 picks in the draft probably this year’s NFL. Luck, a sophomore, has announced its decision Thursday.

Harbaugh met Wednesday with the 49ers in San Francisco about their coaching position. It may consider other suitors as well.

Coach Cardinal returned Tuesday to the Bay Area after their 40-12 victory over Virginia Tech in Orange Bowl Stadium Ross holds. Ross, Chief Executive Officer Mike Dee and Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland have been away from Stanford before the game.

Ross flew to the Bay Area late Wednesday and left California to Florida 24 hours later without a new coach. Harbaugh Miami is the only candidate known to have interviewed.

Ross said before the season, should the Dolphins to reach the Super Bowl. Instead, for the eighth time in nine years, they have not reached the playoffs. The Dolphins have lost at home in December 0500 with three sub-teams and their 1-7 record at home is the worst in franchise history.

Sparano led Miami in the AFC East title in 2008, his first year as coach of the NFL. He has a record of 25-23 with three years of the Dolphins, who have not won a playoff game since 2000 and have not reached the Super Bowl since 1984.

Among the teams still on the market for a coach are Denver and San Francisco. New Chief Executive Broncos Football John Elway said he hopes to interview Harbaugh for their jobs, and the new 49ers general manager Trent Baalke is looking to replace coach Mike Singletary, who was fired.

AP Sports Writers Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Janie McCauley in San Francisco contributed to this report.